If Sony makes a "Playstation Switch" could it succeed?

[KBG29]

potato_hamster said:

You remind me of the Communists who say "no one has created a truly Communist country yet! All of them have been compromises! You can't say communism hasn't worked if it hasn't truly been implemented".

It's just that it's total horseshit that ignores reality.

Every single consumer electronic device. Every game console. Every handheld. Every phone. Every clock radio. They've all be built with compromises. But not yours. Nope. You're going to make a gaming phone without compromises.

• It's going to be far more powerful than any smartphone ever made, obviously have a far greater power draw when gaming than any smartphone on the market, but have the same, if not better battery life. It'll have have far more inputs that would need to made extremely durable for daily use - but still, it's ridiculous to think it would even cost the same as an iPhone. Instead of costing far more, it'll actually cost a small fraction of any current iPhone or Android phone because reasons.
•  it's going to have all the features and apps modern smartphones have from day one, work just as well as an iPhone or android phone, be just as reliable, just as comfortable and easy to use as current phone offerings, but not be made by Apple or Google or one of Google's partners, as if Apple and Google and their partners don't spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year developing and maintaining their ecosystems. Meanwhile, in reality Sony, MS, Nokia and Blackberry failed to carve a lucrative niche in the cell phone market because they couldn't compete with Apple or Google's ecosystems. But Sony, MS, and Nintendo can do all that - and then some with this gaming phone because reasons.
• It's going to appeal to the 200 million gamers who are going to go out and buy $60 games for their phones that they can also play on PS4s but sell *far more* than the 155 million gamers that bought PS2s as if this phone is going to be super popular literally world-wide to the entire gaming market, and every Xbox fan, Playstation fan, or Nintendo fan regardless of how hardcore they are in their fandom are going to jump at the opportunity to buy a Playstation, Xbox or Nintendo phone - even if they have no interest in those other gaming platforms because reasons.

The the price isn't there.
The features aren't there.
The ecosystem isn't there.
The battery life isn't there.
The market isn't there.

What do you have left? A pipe dream. But you'd buy one, so clearly it's a great idea!

There is literally nothing about your idea that has any basis in reality.

I really don't know how you came up with those responses based on what I wrote. We just seem to be way to far apart on this topic to gain any ground. This may just be one of those thing that has to happen to be understood. I work in a developmental field, and this happens from time to time. 

If they ever make such a device, and it is to completely fall on its face, I will be the first to admit I was wrong. I just hope you will be willing to do the same should it happen, and succeed.

Conina said:

KBG29 said:

The door is open for anyone to take this space. Nintendo, Sony, Apple, Microsoft, it is up for grabs. Nintendo could very easily deliver a Switch Phone in the next year, and seal the deal on mobile gaming devices. If they do, I feel the same. It would end up being the single highest selling peice of hardware in the history of the gaming business.

Okay, Nintendo delivers its Switch phone this year. Will you buy it?

 

Nintendo has its new solution for Switch Voice chat pic.twitter.com/WOdSKt1eBG

— Ex-CEO Kaz Hirai (@KazHiraiCEO) January 17, 2018

Well, if that's the Nintendo Switch Phone I think I would have to pass. ;)

If they do make a Switch Phone though, I will I will definitly buy one. I just bought my Switch on Nov. 7th, and I would buy a Switch Phone right now if they were to announce it today. All I'd ask for is a web browser, additional apps and services could come with time. 

EricHiggin said:

I have a really hard time seeing x86 in a phone. To go to the trouble of creating a system like Nin and Nvidia did for the Switch, to port to ARM more easily, really seems like a massive leap if it were going to happen. If they were going to do that, then they might as well make the handheld ARM and port the x86 console games to the ARM mobile devices. How much that would effect the mobile version of games vs the console games in terms of quality I don't know, but I would have to assume it would either mean one or the other would suffer considerably, which defeats the purpose. In terms of Ryzen, a handheld to me, seems to be the limit in terms of strong enough performance with worthwhile portability. I know AMD is dabbling in ARM here and there, so PS could get them to help design the future hardware ecosystem that requires both for this vision. With AMD and Intel working together to put Vega and HBM on the EMIB, PS could try to convince AMD to collaborate with someone else ARM related and do something similar with Navi/next gen.

A handheld/hybrid, which has proven to be a huge hit so far, just seems like a much more logical and safe path overall. They probably could do the phone, but I just see it being way to big of a step outside the box and too much risk. To me, using the handheld/hybrid to start the push into the mobile gaming market would be the way to go, then solidify it with the phone hardware. If they tried handheld and phone at once, and it fails, that's a much bigger hit to take. The way I would see it working if PS really wanted both and fairly soon, would be to completely separate the consoles and the mobiles. Different hardware designs and different games for both. They could all be PS branded, but no crossover, and must be well supported, first and third party.

It is really hard to say what the best path is hardwarewise. Do they stick to the PS4 tech? Do they release PS5/PS5 Mobile? Do they Stick with X86? Do they switch everything to ARM? Do they split it X86 at Home, and ARM on the go? Every way has advantages and disadvantages. Personally, I think sticking to either X86 or ARM, and have a completely unified and scaled ecosystem is the best way to go. Since they have just spent 5+ years building around X86, I rather see them stick with X86 as opposed to rebuilding from the ground up again. Really it is going to come down to the personal preference of whoever the lead architect. I would hope the same Tech Designer and OS Designer over look all future projects to make things a unified and effecient as possible.

The issue I have with not offering a Phone version of any future handheld, is the reaction to the Vita. The number one reason people I have talked to did not pick up the Vita was the lack of native calling and text. I think they would be in a similar position with any future portable. Having the entire PlayStation catalogue available going forward would definitly help things, but I can still see people saying, well it would be nice if I could use it as phone, but I just can't justify carrying around two devices, or I can't justify portable game player when I already have my phone. 

To this day I have people come up to me when I am browsing the web, watching videos, streaming music, or playing online on the Vita, and ask me how I am doing it. Some people ask if I am teathered to my phone, others ask if I get wifi (when there is no wifi around), and the rest just ask, how are you do that. When I tell people it has 3G, their face always lights up, and the next question is always, can you make calls on it.

In the beggining I didn't know about Skype, so for well over a year I always said no. Then when found out about Skype the 3G Model was long discontinued. 

At first I got the responses above. After I learned about Skype many people were asking how much it cost, and what provider it was on, just to be let down when I had to tell them it was discountinued. To which they would ask why, and claim they would much rather have something like the Vita than whatever current iPhone or Android device they had. Now I get the same questions, and when I tell people I used to be able to make calls on it, they are dumbfoundedas to why that would ever go away. 

Even this year I have had people come up to me ask these questions, get these answer, ask why, and pull out their Phone and say, I would much rather have something like that than this. Even with the limitations, and the lack of apps. 

As someone who has carried around the Vita for almost 6 years now, I know what my friends and family want if they were ever to buy another portable PlayStation. I have been to half the states in the US, I have been over seas, and I know what the general feeling is, from what has to be in the thousands of co-workers and random people that have come up to me through the years in air ports, resteraunts, waiting rooms, and every other random place you can imagine. People want a Portable PlayStation that they can make phone calls on, first and foremost, without that, their is next to no interest.

You know what the other two major questions are?

Question 2: Can you play online multiplayer on that?

Answer: With Wifi or teathering to your phone. 

Typical Response: Awe that sucks, you should be able to play on the mobile connection. I would get one if you could play (insert online multiplayer game) over 4G/LTE/Mobile or whatever word they use.

Question 3: Can you hook that up to a TV and play with a controller?

Answer: No, but they made a seperate device to do that.

Typical Response: How lame, you should be able watch and play stuff on a TV or Monitor. That would be cool then.